Everlasting Fire
by Sorano101
Summary: Speedy hasn't really enjoyed the last few months, suffering from an unknown depression and moodswings, longing for something new, when something unexpected DID happen. Meeting a amnesiac girl with the power of fire...
1. Same old, same old

**Everlasting Fire**

A/N this is my first Teen Titans fan fiction, so please, keep all mean and rude comments to your selves. Anyway, all dialog said by Mas y Menos will be translated to English on the side. Thank you for listening.

Ch. 1: Same old, same old

As the sun set over the widely populated Steel City, the darkness came, covering the city like a large blanket. At the far eastern part of the city, a young hero sat upon the Titans East Tower, watching the last of the day pass by. The teenage boy seemed to have orange, extremely short hair, and a simple eye mask, concealing his true identity. Sighing, he gazed once more at the now dark sky before, reaching for his weapon, a bow with assorted types of arrows, and head towards the metal door, leading into the T-shaped tower.

Heading down silently towards the main room, a series of voices, belonging to BumbleBee, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos, were in light conversation. Ignoring them, he simply laid down his bow, heading towards the group in complete silence. "Hey, Speedy," called out the black-haired Aqualad, wearing his usual black and blue jumpsuit, "what do you want for dinner?"

Speedy just looked at him, giving him the "you-should-already-know" look. "Tacos." he replied bluntly, yawning and then flopping down onto the couch.

"But you **always** want tacos." Aqualad replied annoyingly, his tone less than surprised.

"Well duh. Tacos **are** my favorite food, ya' know…" the red-head sarcastically said, roughly grasping the TV remote, rapidly changing the channels looking for something good to watch.

"Don't be so sarcastic, Speedy." joked the team's leader, BumbleBee, "Or we might have to give 'ya the boot."

"Si, si, Senor Speedy!" Yes, yes Speedy! giggled the twins Mas y Menos, holding hands, and running in circles around the depressed figure, slumping on the couch.

"Would you just quit it and leave me alone?" shouted Speedy irritably, stomping through the automatic steal door, heading to the nearest exit.

"Man, what a grouch…" groaned Aqualad, rolling his eyes.

"He's been so depressed lately…" murmured the leader worriedly.

"Probably just a phase he had hit a little too late. He obviously hasn't reached the 'Mature' level yet."

"Maybe…"

A/N please R&R!


	2. A Midnight Run

A/N and so here's another chapter of Speedy's life. This chapter will be longer, I promise, the other one was just and introduction! Enjoy!

Ch 2: A Midnight Run

"I'm going out for a run…" grumbled Speedy to Bumblebee who was sitting on the couch with the rest of the team watching a horror movie.

"It's almost midnight!" shouted the leader looking back at him, "Why now?"

"'Cause horror flics aren't really my favorite." he lied, grabbing his bow and a bushel of arrows, running out the door.

"What's **his** hurry?" asked Aqualad, the question directed to anyone in the room. BumbleBee and the twins just shrugged, turning their gaze back to the screen.

Meanwhile, Speedy looked at the tower one last time before descending into a dark alleyway, climbing up the fire escape. Once reaching the top of the stairs, he sighed quietly before jumping down onto the actual roof. The young hero took in the moments of silence for a few minutes, before really beginning his late night jog. What he really wanted was some action, something new to look forward to, while patrolling the Steel City.

After jogging for less than a half an hour, Speedy heard a clutter of shouts-a girl's and a mess of men's shouting and yelling.

'_Uh, oh. Sounds like a gang fight…_' the red-head thought to himself, going over to inspect the situation, silently. Looking, down over the edge, his eyes grew big as he saw what was really happening.

The teenage girl was just walking down the sidewalk, from her summer job at a shoe store, when she was suddenly pulled into a dark alleyway. A large hand was clamped tightly over her mouth, allowing hardly any breathing air to pass through.

"Scream and I'll slit 'yer throat…" the man warned her, flashing his large pocket knife so the girl could see. Snickers and cruel laughter came from farther back in the alleyway. She mentally screamed for help, as the man started to feel around her body for money or jewelry. When he finally found her small wallet in one of her back pockets, the girl's blue eyes widened as he touched her hind quarters.

'_Don't you even **dare**…!' _she thought angrily, biting the man's hand hard and kneeing him hard in the stomach, making him yelp and let go of her, her wallet in hand. His fellow thugs walked in front of him, and the rest blocking her only way of escape. Cold sweat slid down her face, as she was forced to back up. She carefully took steps backwards, each time the gang stepped forwards, their hands wielding knifes or metal pipes.

Her expression was not fearful yet not fearless, but in between, watching their every move. All of a sudden, one made his move, chucking his knife at her chest. She tried to dodge it by taking a step sideways, yet the knife slice her arm. Grasping the wound, the teen felt the cold brick wall behind her.

'_Terrific._' the girl thought out loud, the street punks ready to attack with a vengeance for hurting one of their members.

Speedy shook his head in disbelief, wondering how she had held up to this point.

'_Looks like its time for me to intervene_.' the hero thought, readying himself to jump down and protect the stranger, until he saw flames form around her.

"Take one step closer and your toast." the girl warned a ball of raging fire in each palm of her hand. Most of the thugs took a step back, running from the alleyway.

"Cowards!" shouted their supposed leader, his followers abandoning him, "I guess it's just **you** and **me** girlie…" the punk grinned wickedly, his knife ready to kill. The man moved into range of his victim, lifting his weapon high above his head.

"**Look out**!" shouted Speedy, not moving to help the girl, as the gang leader first kicked her quickly on her injured arm, making the teenager grimace, the fire disappearing from her hands. Holding her arm in pain, she didn't see the next attempted stabbing coming her way. "Time to end this!" yelled Speedy, jumping in front of the injured girl, blocking the blow with his bow.

The man was quick, swiftly punching Speedy to the side. Gasping she let go of her bloody arm, and by taking the man by surprise, the girl tripped him. When he was on the asphalt, the strange girl placed her foot on his chest, keeping him on the ground. Putting her flaming fist by his face, she said in a dark voice, "Leave. Now!"

The man obeyed, running away like his other comrades.

"Hey, thanks." said a voice from behind her, "For, you know, giving that thug 'da boot." Shrugging the girl turned to his, grasping her arm again.

"No. I should be the once thanking **you**, for uh, saving my skin…" she admitted, giving him a small smile. Smiling back, Speedy then look down at her arm, a worried look in his eyes.

"You should get that checked out, 'ya know." he inquired, pointing to her long gash.

"That's not really ness-" she began to argue, but was interrupted.

"Come on, I insist." Speedy said, motioning her to follow him. Sighing, the teenager nodded, knowing arguing wouldn't work, and it **wouldn't** kill her to get it checked out. He smiled at her, before walking out of the alleyway.

He kept himself silent for a few moments before looking at her. "What's your name?"

The girl stared at him before answering, "Ember."

A/N this was a LOT longer chapter, if I do say so myself. Please R&R!


	3. Curiosity

A/N thanks for thee review mysti-eyed! I own you one. Anyway, this fanfic's plot is still into consideration. There will probably be some unexpected twists and turns in this. Oh, and P.S. there might be a part where HotSpot shows his face evil grin… On with Chapter 3 this will be part one, merged with another chapter later on!

Ch 3: Curiosity

Ember silently followed Speedy to the tower, keeping silent the whole time, letting him do all the talking. He told her about the tower, their job fighting crime, the original Teen Titans, and the team- BumbleBee, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos.

'_He sure does talk a lot…_' she thought, smirking slightly. Sighing, she raised an eyebrow when the T-Tower finally came into view. '_Wow, that's big…_'

Speedy quickly walked up to metal entry doorway, placing his hand on a small screen. "_Scanning… Identification: Speedy. Handprint accepted._" buzzed the computer, the steel door sliding open suddenly.

"C'mon in, Ember." he said, motioning her to follow. Ember sighed yet again, and then hesitantly tagged along. Looking back, Speedy's smile faded, at the look of her hesitant face. "Don't worry," he assured, "My teammates don't bite."

"Really." she replied, a slight hint of sarcasm in her tone of voice.

"Positive." Speedy quickly opened another steel door, though this one was protected by an identification system. As it slid open, he walked in, his teammates staring at him. "Hi guys…" the young hero alleged, nodding to them.

Greeting him, they all turned their attention to the rough-looking feminine figure standing behind him.

"Speedy, didn't we tell you not to bring anonymous people, especially girls, into the tower unannounced?" commented their leader, BumbleBee, strolling up cautiously to the girl.

"But-" Speedy began, shrugging slightly.

"But nothing." said another figure, apparently fitting the description of Aqualad, "Who is this girl anyway?"

"She's someone I-"

"Your new girlfriend?" he interrupted with a chuckle.

"No way!"

"Then who is she?"

Speedy sighed in frustration. "Her name is Ember! She has fire power-literally."

"Disparar?" Fire? murmured Mas y Menos to each other, staring at Ember. BumbleBee studied her for a moment, before looking back to Speedy.

"I can patch up her arm!" volunteered Aqualad, grasping her good, arm, and pulling her into the infirmary.

After they were gone, the leader thought for a moment. "First, we have to see what she can do…" she informed him. He was surprised, very surprised that BumbleBee was this… persistent.

"See what she can do?"

"Ah!" shouted Ember as she dodged a target missile. Avoiding its string of shots, she jumped up, sending an array of fireballs at the machinery, blasting it into pieces.

BumbleBee, Aqualad, Speedy, and Mas y Menos watched from a deck, housing the control panels for the obstacle course. "She is doing really well, considering this to be her first training simulation." BumbleBee nodded her approval. Speedy gave a half smile before returning his gaze back to Ember, as she kicked and punched her way to a harder obstacle, "It appears she has trained before; in Martial Arts that is."

"Obviously." agreed the sea boy, watching with much entertainment. Speedy just shrugged, not replying.

She eyed him for a minute before looking back to the controls, deciding to go a level higher.

Ember gasped when she saw several towers with more target missiles, only this time they were larger. "Great…" she muttered, before she had to dodge a missile's assault. "Take that!" she shouted, as she kicked it out of her way, racing to the finish line. Just as she was about to cross, a missile jabbed her injured arm. Grimacing, Ember let it fall to her side, using her good hand to sizzle it with her flames.

"Uh no! Las senorita Ember lacerar!" Uh no! Ember is hurt! exclaimed Mas and his brother Menos, running around in lightning-speed circles with worry.

"Don't worry guys. She made it across safe and, well, almost sound." half smiled BumbleBee, signaling towards the girl crossing the finish line with ease, still her expression painful.

Speedy however, was stricken in concern, scampering down to Ember's side. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly, his face only inches from her surprised one.

"Chill, Speedy, I only took a small beating by one of those androids." she murmured, backing up slightly, shrugging nervously.

"You sure?"

"Speedy! Calm yourself! What's with you?" Ember stared at him, an eyebrow raised in confusion. The young hero realized what he was doing, turning his back to her suddenly, trying to his blush.

"Er… Nothing's wrong! Just, uh, making sure you're happy with your time you got in the obstacle course..."

"Whatever…" she replied, trying to conceal her laughter.

A/N Ooooo… Speedy's having those wittle moments, isn't he? giggle Please R&R!


	4. The Captor of Memories

A/N Thanks for the reviews mysti-eyed and TheGirlWonder. I took down the description because I knew I would give away some parts or whatever. Alright, on with the fan fiction!

Ch 4: The Captor of Memories

After the training session, Speedy began to ease up, becoming his normal depressed self, slumping on the couch, bored out of his mind. Ember watching silently from her spot on the couch, and an eyebrow rose for curiosity and suspicion. Sighing, she stood, walking casually to Aqualad, sitting by the table, working on something.

"Is he **always** like this?" she asked, with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Who?" asked Aqualad, not paying attention, working on a "Seascapes" puzzle.

"Uh, Speedy." she replied, irritably, pointing towards the red-headed lump on the couch.

"Les significar Senor Speedy?" You mean Speedy? asked the twins, zooming around Ember, while speaking in fast Spanish, "Les usualmente lata **non** cerrar el hacia arriba!" You usually can **not** shut him up!

"Eh?" she murmured in complete confusion, scratching her head only knowing the most simplest words in Spanish, "Si… yes I guess…"

"We really need to get a 'Spanish to English' translator for them…" muttered BumbleBee from by the door, hovering over to them, pizza in hand, "Who wants pizza?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Ember, not having pizza for so long, made her extremely excited.

"Okay, cool…" the sea boy mumbled, still not paying any attention.

"Si, si!" Yes, yes! shouted Mas y Menos, whizzed BumbleBee, trying to grab the pizza from her.

"Whatever…" sighed the slumped figure on the couch, flipping TV channels.

"Extremely enthusiastic today, I see, huh Speedy?" the leader said, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Oh yeah, **extremely** enthusiastic…"

"Speedy, you **are** hopeless…"

"Thanks, I take that as a compliment, BumbleBee."

"Alright, you win. I'm proposing that you're not hungry, so I'll give those few extra tacos to Mas and Menos to chow down on…" BumbleBee strutted innocently over to the fridge, setting down the pizza on the counter. Slowly, she grasped the two cold tacos, letting Speedy see what exactly what she was doing.

His eyes got big and moist, and his lips quivered. "**No!** Gimme back my tacos!" he shouted, jumping up and tackling BumbleBee to the ground, trying to make her give back his precious Mexican food.

"Alright, fine take your tacos, but you have to promise to lighten up, or your tacos are finished…" she warned, slowly sliding her pointer finger across her throat, getting the point across.

"All right, **fine**, have it your way," the hero growled, stroking his tacos protectively.

Aqualad, Mas, Menos, and Ember, blinked twice before, they all fell on the ground, laughing.

Later…

"So Speedy, you about ready to put down your tacos yet?" asked Ember sarcastically, after eating her pizza, "You've **only** been cuddling them for an hour now!"

"Yeah, Speedy, you have some major protective issues about food. Maybe you should go see a physiatrist." chuckled Aqualad, holding his gloved hand over his mouth.

Glaring daggers at Aqualad, Speedy and the others jumped when the alarm went off. BumbleBee run to the giant TV screen, a map of the city popped up when she typed in a password. "Uh oh, guys. There's been a break in down at the mall. Let's move!"

The whole team raced to the door, head over heels, leaving Ember in the dust. She just blinked, confused on what she should do, thinking about all the negatives that could happen.

Skidding to a stop, Speedy looked back at her over his shoulder. "You coming?" he asked, grabbing his bow and quiver of high-tech arrows.

Snapping out of her trance, Ember nodded, and followed him out the door, and into a huge garage of some sort. Apparently, BumbleBee flew, Mas y Menos ran, and Aqualad rode in some kind of one-person vehicle. She sighed in frustration as they, yet again, left her in the dust.

"C'mon, Ember! Duty calls!" called out Speedy, jumping on his motorcycle, and then patting the space behind her, before strapping on a helmet that matched his uniform. Smiling, she jumped on behind him, putting on the helmet he lent her, and then wrapping her arms around his waist. "Ready?" he asked her, about to push off.

"Uh huh." she replied quietly, nodding.

"Then let's go!" Pushing off, Speedy put the petal to the metal, the tires screeching on the pavement before suddenly jerking forward.

At the Steel City Mall…

Speedy's motorcycle screeched to the stopped at the nearly destroyed entrance to the Steel City Mall. Ember noted the scene, her gaze wandering towards the rumble, the splintered wood shaft, still burning from the so called explosion. She concentrated on the wreckage, beads of cold sweat running down her face, a flashback clouding her mind of a fiery death…

"Ember?" asked a voice, snapping her out of her trance, realizing she was still on the bike. "Ember?" Speedy asked again, "Are you okay?"

"Eh? Oh yeah, let's go." Ember replied; sweat still sliding down her face. Speedy raised an eye brow before shrugging, running inside the damaged building. She sighed, holding her head waiting for the psychological pain to dissipate.

Meanwhile, BumbleBee, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos were having a heck of a time trying to defeat the fiery menace, HotSpot, who combined forces with an even bigger threat, Slade. The smooth-talking major villain offered HotSpot a seat by his side when he would take over both Steel and Jump City. The greedy little devil such as him, the boy of fire could not resist; his urges for power and wealth were too over-bearing. In other words, he was now an even bigger threat than before.

"Why is HotSpot so hard to defeat?" asked Aqualad, grunting while he was nearly hit by a fireball, sending him into the tiled floor, "He used to be really **easy** to crush him." He obviously didn't know that Slade was also included in the young villain's wrecking spree.

"He must've trained or something!" BumbleBee shouted, flying at HotSpot head on, dodging all the attacks he made until the last one, which sent her also into the 'dirt'.

"Exactly, my dear." said a voice, coolly, a masculine figure emerging from the shadows.

"Senior Slade!" Slade! shouted Mas, Menos' mouth literally dropped down to their feet.

"Yeah, it's Slade alright… I'd recognize his stench anywhere!" Speedy shouted, sending an arrow, filled with ice at HotSpot, hitting him dead on.

"Good shot, Boy Wonder the second. Now it's **my** turn!" remarked Ember, with a smirk on her face, sending a blast of flames at Slade's head, her accuracy extremely good.

Slade sneered under his orange and black mask, blocking by just moving his head to the side. "Aw, another fiery child; HotSpot is a wonderful apprentice, maybe you will be too, girl… or should I say, **Susannah**." he said dryly, staring at the girl, who was completely dumbstruck.

Ember's face paled, before her angered curiosity made her color return. "_H-how, do you know my name?_" she thought, then yelled it out at Slade, "How do **you** know **my **name!"

"Don't act so surprised, my dear Ember, I know **everything** about you; you, your past, **and** your future." Slade coolly remarked an invisible sly smile spread across his hidden face.

"No you don't know **anything** about me, or my past!" She then became silent, before adding softly, "I don't even know about my past…"

Speedy looked at Ember with sincerity, seeing she was nearly close to tears. BumbleBee slowly floated down to the floor slowly walking toward the girl; as did the rest of the team.

"Don't you see I don't have any memories of my past? Not even one! Not any of my childhood, not even my family… I don't even know if I have a family!" Susannah blurted out, tears cascading down her pain-stricken face, sinking down to her knees.

"Ember…" murmured Speedy softly, reaching out for her shoulder. Slade saw this, and then nodded to his apprentice. HotSpot nodded back, before knocking the young hero out of the way with a fire ball.

"Speedy!" she yelled through her tears, rushing up to help him. Before she could even stand, Slade was by her side pinning her in her previous position.

"You cannot escape your past, dear Susannah, it is far too important." Slade whispered cruelly, so that only she could hear. "You have been living all your life in a curse, not remembering any of your childhood memories, for you had amnesia. You probably think you were all alone throughout your life but you weren't. You left a past no one had to struggle through but yourself…"

"No! Stop it!" she yelled, holding her head in pain, shivering. "Stop! Please!"

"…I was there to witness it all. When you discovered your powers, you almost killed yourself and your beloved parents because you were out of control…"

"N-no… P-please stop it…" she whispered, tears streaming down her paler face, beginning to see flashbacks of her horrific past.

Several yards away, Speedy groaned, before he slowly got up with BumbleBee's help. "Wh-what is Slade doing to Ember?" he asked groggily, still dazed from the blow.

"Don't know, but he seems to be manipulating her…" BumbleBee muttered, still assisting Speedy. Aqualad on the other hand, was nervous. The leader noticed this. "Aqualad, get Speedy out of here. Mas, Menos, and I will-" She was cut off by a painful scream.

"Stop!" Ember screamed, but Slade only made his voice louder, still holding her down.

"No. I have to stay… To help Ember…" Speedy murmured, slipping from BumbleBee's grasp, standing on his own raising his bow, an arrow locked in place…

"…And then on your birth date, control was out of your reach, destroyed all you had left…" Slade said louder, his voice influencing her to see memories; the agonizing ones. HotSpot narrowed his eyes at Ember, almost pitying the girl.

"No!" she wailed, sobbing struggling to get away from Slade and her pain.

"…The last things you remember are your mother's screams, your father's prayers, and de-"

Suddenly, the villain stopped talking, releasing his grasp on her, to dodge Speedy arrow. One it hit something solid, it exploded, creating a mass of blinding smoke around them all.

"Another time perhaps…" said Slade coolly, slipping into the shadows, along with HotSpot.

Speedy coughed, his arm covering his mouth. "Ember? Ember where are you?" he called out between coughs, trying to see a few feet in front of him.

The team frantically tried to search for each other, BumbleBee hovering above the cloud of smoke, but still couldn't see hardly anything. "Guys?" she called out, "Are you all okay?"

Mas and Menos whizzed around, bumping unto just about everything that came into their path. Finally after a few minutes, they managed to bump into Aqualad, literally. A large 'crash' was heard, making them lay on the floor 'swirly eyed'.

As the smoke cleared, everyone sighed in relief. Speedy however, spotted Ember's motionless figure, kneeling a few feet away.

"Ember? Ember, speak to me!" he whispered, running over to her, squatting down beside his newly found friend. Her eyes were dark, and she was not moving, tears still falling occasionally.

"I-I r-remember…" she whispered, her voice shaking, before everything went black…

A/N Obviously, this chapter is a lot longer. Please R&R! Also, I will not be updating until I have at least 7 reviews or more.


	5. Truth

Ch. 5: Truth

"...she's startin' to come around…" whispered a soft voice, shushing all to others to keep silent. Ember groaned, her blue eyes fluttering open. She tried to sit up, but the painful throbbing in her head kept her down.

Holding her head, she tried to recognize the people standing around her. But, her vision was blurry and uncoordinated, so she was unsuccessful. Ember shut her eyes tightly, and opened them again, her visualization refocusing slowly.

"Hey, Ember!" said Aqualad, waving at her, smiling cheesily, "How ya' feelin'?"

"Senorita Ember! Senorita Ember! Les sentimento bueno?" Ember! Ember! Are you feeling okay? shouted the twins, one brother of op of the other, zooming around the bed several times before stopping right in front of her, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Ella acreditar chiflado a me…" She looks crazy to me… whispered Menos to his brother. Mas 'sweat-dropped' and quickly put his hand over Menos' mouth and pushed him off the bed with him.

"Guy, guys! Give the girl some room!" shouted BumbleBee, making Aqualad and Mas y Menos back away, giving smiles to Ember, before racing out of the room.

Ember's head was swimming, and she grimaced every time her brain had to process something. "W-what happened?" she asked softly, holding her head.

BumbleBee just shook her head. "We dunno… We figured Slade was manipulating you to become his apprentice or something like that."

"I could try to remember what happened…"

"Nah. Don't worry about it. We can just extract your memories with a-"

Ember gave her a look of disgust and terror. "You serious?" she asked, a little too persistent.

BumbleBee chuckled at her expression, and the shook her head. "I'm just messin' with 'ya."

Sighing in relief, Ember suddenly got the courage to ask, "Where's Speedy?"

The leader got the drift and smugly smiled at her question. "He's sleepin'… and snorin' too. He carried you all the way back here, even with his injuries. Why don't you go see him… he'll enjoy your company-literally."

"Will he get mad if-"

"Probably not, now get goin'! Your little rendezvous with Speedy is waiting."

Ember narrowed her eyes at this comment, and was about to protest, but BumbleBee has already shoved her out of the room and locked the door behind her.

Ember slowly made her way across the tower, to Speedy's quarters, frequently getting lost in all of the dark corridors.

"All these hallways look the same! They seriously need directions in-"

Suddenly, a loud snore could be heard echoing throughout the hall.

"Huh?" she whispered, jumping at the sound, and then something hit her:

_"He's sleepin'… and snorin' too…"_

"Oh… Then that must be Speedy!" she thought out loud, quickly following the snores to a larger metal door. The girl had to back away because the snores were so loud. Hesitantly, Ember knocked softly on the door, beginning to think that bothering him as a bad idea.

While she was waiting, she heard a large 'thump' and an assortment of groans before the door slid open. "Hi, Spe-" she began before Speedy cut her off.

"Ember, are you okay, I mean you passed out for a long time, I mean a **long** time, and, well yeah…" he said, more softly then he expected.

Before Ember replied, she studied him, gasping when she saw his side bandaged as well as his right arm and left arm.

"Oh my god, Speedy, I'm **so** sorry for what happened to, you know, you." she whispered, looking away, and holding her arm in sincerity, tears welling up in her eyes.

Speedy sighed, before cupping her chin with his good arm, and whispering, "It's okay…" He looked around cautiously, not wanting any of his teammates to be spying on him and Ember; the young super hero took her hand quickly, and led her into his surprisingly clean room.

Ember was about to compliment his cleanliness when he pulled her to his unmade bed and made her sit down beside him. Letting go of her hand, he balanced himself on the edge, facing her.

"Ember…" he began, his tone soft, 'What happened back there. What exactly was Slade doing to you?"

Ember shifted her position, obviously uncomfortable about the question. Speedy noticed her hesitation.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I-"

"No…" she argued, putting up her hand to stop him, "You need to know." She sighed, bringing her knees up to her chest, before she started to tell of her past.

"Long ago, I believe in San Diego, California, is where I was born. My parents were obviously very grateful, but after I turned one or so, strange random things began to happen-when I was around a lit candle or something, the fire would, I don't know, dance, to the way I moved my hands. My parents thought it was a coincidence that all that stuff was happening.

"Several times that happened, but when I got older, even stranger things began to happen, with, you know, fire." she paused before continuing, " To make a long story short, they eventually found out I could create and manipulate fire, after all those occurrences. Unfortunately, I had no control and several times have things gotten out of hand at school and a home, causing them to home school me."

"After a while, though, people got suspicious, and began asking my parents' questions, some so bizarre I can't even repeat them clearly enough to even understand. Then, that caused us all to 'disappear', to live under a false name, construct a false birth certificate; pretty much, false everything! I didn't personally care for it, but it was probably for my own safety… and theirs if no one found out."

"Everything was normal; well, close to normal, that is until my 13th birthday…" Ember took a breather before continuing, Speedy listening intensively, "… when I was trying to help my mom in the kitchen, baking the cake, my powers started to go out of control, setting the houses ablaze. M-my parents, risked their own lives to save mine…"

Tears now fell from her pale blue eyes, cascading down her tan face. Speedy offered a comforting hug, before she carried on, "A-anyway, firefighters tried to rescue them, but no avail. Still I was so angry that I stayed, to try to save them, but, my efforts were in vain. A large piece of lumber fell on me and knocked me out. I woke up in a hospital to find out that I was the only one that survived-my p-parents were the ones who suffered… Not me."

"I-I was sent to a foster home, but my foster parents' beat me, so I ran away. I changed my name so that no one would ever find me…"

Ember wiped away the tears, and looked at Speedy, whose face was serious and forgiving. "You've been through that much?" he asked, surprised by her story. The girl only nodded solemnly.

Speedy then came forward and pulled her into a hug, which Ember graciously accepted, who buried her head into his shoulder. He held her close, comforting her. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I won't **ever** let Slade hurt you, Ember, **ever**."

She nodded, wiping away the tears from her face. They pulled away, and smiled at each other. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the team was outside their door, trying each smugly smiling.

They whispered something to each other, and then grinned evilly; the perfect matchmaking plan was now in progress.

A/N Sorry I haven't been updating lately. Busy, busy. Please R&R!


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